US, China holding lower level trade talks later this month

A delegation of officials from China and the U.S. will meet later this month to discuss trade between the two countries as a round of additional tariffs from President Trump looms next week.

Reuters reported Thursday that representatives from the Treasury Department will meet with China’s Vice Minister of Commerce Wang Shouwen and other officials in Washington, D.C. 

News of the meeting boosted the yuan and aided China’s stock market, Reuters reported. However, financial observers expressed skepticism that any tangible agreement will come from the meeting, citing that the U.S. Trade Representative was not involved and the talks will occur between lower-level officials.

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It’s unclear if the meeting will take place before or after Aug. 23, which is when the Trump administration will impose 25 percent tariffs on $16 billion worth of Chinese imports.

Those tariffs will be the latest action in an ongoing tit-for-tat exchange of duties between the two countries, prompting concerns of an escalating trade war between the world’s two largest economies.

Trump has insisted on imposing tariffs on China and some U.S. allies for national security reasons, even as Republicans and Democrats alike have warned that the policy will ultimately hurt American workers.

The president has argued that the tariffs are necessary in order to secure better trade deals, even though the U.S. has yet to establish any new agreement since the duties were put in place.

“Our Country was built on Tariffs, and Tariffs are now leading us to great new Trade Deals – as opposed to the horrible and unfair Trade Deals that I inherited as your President,” Trump tweeted Wednesday. “Other Countries should not be allowed to come in and steal the wealth of our great U.S.A. No longer!”

Our Country was built on Tariffs, and Tariffs are now leading us to great new Trade Deals – as opposed to the horrible and unfair Trade Deals that I inherited as your President. Other Countries should not be allowed to come in and steal the wealth of our great U.S.A. No longer!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 15, 2018